Antwan Tolhoek handed heavy doping ban after 2023 positive test - faces years on the sidelines

Wednesday, 16 July 2025 at 21:45

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Antwan Tolhoek has received a very lengthy doping suspension after testing positive for anabolic androgenic steroids on November 27, 2023. The Dutch rider, who had signed with the Portuguese Sabgal-Anicolor Cycling Team just months earlier, was immediately thrown out on the street by the team. He has now been handed a four-year ban, retroactively, effective until February 6, 2028.

Although the positive test dates back to late 2023, Tolhoek’s suspension officially began on February 7, 2024. In a press release, the UCI confirmed that its anti-doping tribunal imposed the four-year ban. Tolhoek still has the right to appeal the decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), though it remains unclear whether he plans to do so.

His former Portuguese team had already announced his dismissal in February 2024. “We want to clarify that the positive test dated November 27 was delivered before he was part of our team,” they stated. “We’ve decided to terminate Antwan’s contract immediately and relieve him of all duties within the team. We were only just informed of Tolhoek’s test results and had no knowledge of it when he joined us.”

Read more below the photo.

Tolhoek never spoke about his positive doping test before

Now 31 years old, Antwan Tolhoek will be nearly 34 by the time he's eligible to race again in 2028. But even before the doping news, the career of the once highly promising climber had already been on a downward trajectory. A product of the Rabobank development team, Tolhoek moved to Roompot for a year before joining what is now Visma | Lease a Bike. In 2022, he transferred to what is now Lidl-Trek, but after two seasons, his expiring contract was not renewed.

Tolhoek has one professional victory to his name, and it’s a notable one. In 2019, he won a tough mountain stage at the Tour de Suisse. He also rode the Giro d’Italia twice, the Tour de France once, and the Vuelta a España once.

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Antwan Tolhoek

Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief

Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.

Bram van der Ploeg | Lindkedin | Email

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